Cat Question(s)

[CAELESTIS]

Mono man looking at Catamaran for next vessel . .

1. Other than helm positions, is there any fundamental issues with Catana?

2. Are you required to place the vessel name upon the bows? Aft?

3. Do most have gensets or solar?

Thanks.

[FSMike]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

Mono man looking at Catamaran for next vessel . .

1. Other than helm positions, is there any fundamental issues with Catana?

2. Are you required to place the vessel name upon the bows? Aft?

3. Do most have gensets or solar?

Thanks.

1) Not that I know of.
2) Same rules as for monohulls. Nobody cares unless the vessel is documented, then the Coast Guard cares and wants it on the transom, in certain sized letters, along with the hailing port.
3) Probably one or the other, most likely owner installed.

[downunder]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

Mono man looking at Catamaran for next vessel . .

1. Other than helm positions, is there any fundamental issues with Catana?

2. Are you required to place the vessel name upon the bows? Aft?

3. Do most have gensets or solar?

Thanks.

It depends, Generally,

Most production cats (Lagoon,FP, leopard,Catana) have very little or minimal solar as standard. Cats can easily accomodate 1KW+ solar but its generally retrofitted by owners.

Most of the larger size over 45ft production boats could have gensets although not always the case. The performance cat designs often do not have gensets although many carry portable honder petrol gensets.

[Cottontop]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

2. Are you required to place the vessel name upon the bows? Aft?
.

For a US documented cat, from the US Coast Guard documentation site:

The name and hailing port of a recreational vessel must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull. The vessel name of a commercial vessel must also be marked on the port and starboard bow and the vessel name and the hailing port must also be marked on the stern. All markings may be made by any means and materials that result in durable markings and must be at least four inches in height, made in clearly legible letters of the Latin alphabet or Arabic or Roman numerals. The "hailing port" must include both a place and a State, Territory, or possession of in the United States. The state may be abbreviated.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

SNIP

2. Are you required to place the vessel name upon the bows? Aft?

SNIP

From the USCG site:

"The name and hailing port of a recreational vessel must be marked together on some clearly visible exterior part of the hull."

Not all catamarans have enough real estate on the stern to fit the name and hailing port so many of them place this information aft on the hull.

The site goes on to say:

"The vessel name of a commercial vessel must also be marked on the port and starboard bow and the vessel name and the hailing port must also be marked on the stern."

here is the link

[Andrew Grace]

Catana are good cats which are better known for their sailing abilities compared to the usual charter fleet cats , FP & Lagoon.

Solar is great for recreational use but still would prefer genset and upsized engine alternators for charging rather than just relying on Solar if you are on the boat 24 x7. Solar only tends to be really efficient for only a few hours per day so 1000 watts of panels is lucky to charge out 100 to 150 Amps into you batteries each 24hours.

[44'cruisingcat]

Depends on the weather. We regularly get 150+ amp/hours from our 800 Watts of solar. Possibly would get up around 200 a/h, except that the charge controller goes into float.


We live aboard 24/7, have done for over 6 years. When it's sunny the entire boat runs off the solar panels. Fridge, freezer, watermaker, breadmaker, etc etc.


We have a portable genset, but only to make up the shortfall when it's cloudy. We've actually had a genset fail due to lack of use - the rotor rusted and magnets came loose.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Catana are good cats which are better known for their sailing abilities compared to the usual charter fleet cats , FP & Lagoon.

Solar is great for recreational use but still would prefer genset and upsized engine alternators for charging rather than just relying on Solar if you are on the boat 24 x7. Solar only tends to be really efficient for only a few hours per day so 1000 watts of panels is lucky to charge out 100 to 150 Amps into you batteries each 24hours.

That's Amp hours, not Amps. (it would be great to be able to charge the batteries with 100-150 Amps ) And with 1000 Watts, I'd expect to generate around 250-300 Ah per day or more.

So yes, if you're concurrently drawing around 150 Ah during daylight hours from frig/freezer, instruments, autopilot etc, you may only see 100-150 going into your batteries.

[SM6WET]

• Dont know about any general issues. I know Catana is French which would make me a bit careful if buying new. They rarely want you to buy factory direct but via a dealer. The dealer will be responsible for warranty issues and this dealer will be the guy to push away any issues should they happen not making the manufacturer responsible. This is a common trick from French manufacturers whether boats or automobiles. I like Catana, FP and Outremer and would probably like to buy a used one but would be careful to buy new.

• This requirement is pending on the country you come from. It can vary from more or less “don’t care” till “specifics unbelievable”. Or well, not where you come from but what country the boat is registered of course. Many boats cruising registered in US has a common mistake. They are marked with haling port saying example “Tampa, FL”. Well, that works within USA but as soon as you reach Bahamas, Cuba or whatnot US it should really say “Tampa, FL, USA”. Florida is not a country. The boat should be marked with country on the haling port text..
  
• Most cats have solar, many have solar and wind turbines. Then there are also those who add up with a gennie as well. Especially those wanting to use AC on the boat. Many just use a portalble gennie. It is wisest to use one with the same fuel type as your boat motors. Commonly diesel. If you have a larger battery bank you may want to invest in a DC generator instead of AC and just use a converter to run your AC appliances via converter from the DC.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by CAELESTIS

Mono man looking at Catamaran for next vessel . .

1. Other than helm positions, is there any fundamental issues with Catana?

2. Are you required to place the vessel name upon the bows? Aft?

3. Do most have gensets or solar?

Thanks.

1) No, Catana make's a really nice Cat.
2) No name needed on the Bow, Most put boat name and haling port on stern.
3) You want lots of solar and a genset as a backup. Genset maybe needed to make hot water if your anchored out for more than a few days.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by SM6WET

This requirement is pending on the country you come from. It can vary from more or less “don’t care” till “specifics unbelievable”. Or well, not where you come from but what country the boat is registered of course. Many boats cruising registered in US has a common mistake. They are marked with haling port saying example “Tampa, FL”. Well, that works within USA but as soon as you reach Bahamas, Cuba or whatnot US it should really say “Tampa, FL, USA”. Florida is not a country. The boat should be marked with country on the haling port text..

Very few vessels have a country of registration on the hull. That's what the flag is for. In fact the US is one of the few that require a State. As a rule, it's just the name of the vessel and the "hailing port".

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Solar is great for recreational use but still would prefer genset and upsized engine alternators for charging rather than just relying on Solar if you are on the boat 24 x7. Solar only tends to be really efficient for only a few hours per day so 1000 watts of panels is lucky to charge out 100 to 150 Amps into you batteries each 24hours.

Yesterday, a sunny day which followed a rainy one, (so the batteries were down) we collected 219 amp hours (2.9kWh) from 800 Watts solar.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Yesterday, a sunny day which followed a rainy one, (so the batteries were down) we collected 219 amp hours (2.9kWh) from 800 Watts solar.

Was that total output of the panels, or total input into the batteries after daytime demands had been supplied?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Catana are good cats which are better known for their sailing abilities compared to the usual charter fleet cats , FP & Lagoon.

Solar is great for recreational use but still would prefer genset and upsized engine alternators for charging rather than just relying on Solar if you are on the boat 24 x7. Solar only tends to be really efficient for only a few hours per day so 1000 watts of panels is lucky to charge out 100 to 150 Amps into you batteries each 24hours.

Wow. We have been on the hook for months now with a fridge / freezer running 24/7 along with all the lights an electronics on 500 watts of solar.
Batteries are alway topped up. No generator or engines required.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by StuM

Was that total output of the panels, or total input into the batteries after daytime demands had been supplied?

That was the output from the panels. Including a couple of hours on float.